no title

Ongoing coverage

Contest’s winners will woo Stone Brewing Co. in San Diego

View LargerStone Brewing Co.Stone Brewing Co. CEO and co-founder Greg Koch, center, toasts the crowd after announcing plans to build a brewery in Berlin. The company also plans to build a brewery on the East Coast and Columbus might be chosen as the site for it.

More Articles

The Dispatch E-Edition

All current subscribers have full access to Digital D, which includes the E-Edition and
unlimited premium content on Dispatch.com, BuckeyeXtra.com, BlueJacketsXtra.com and
DispatchPolitics.com.
Subscribe
today!

Social media has great power to influence, but Tony Tanner wants something more: a little face time.

The founder of Stone2Cbus, the Columbus grass-roots effort to land Stone Brewing Co.’s $31 million eastern U.S. brewery, has blitzed Twitter and Facebook, talked up Stone’s suds, and invaded dozens of central Ohio bars a few weeks ago.

Now Tanner wants to take his plea straight to the decision-makers — Steve Wagner and Greg Koch, Stone’s founders — out in San Diego, and he wants to take some folks with him.

He’s begun a contest to determine those traveling companions.

Stone2Cbus is soliciting videos from Ohioans focusing on “Why you want to see Stone in Columbus.” He’s asking that the videos be less than a minute long and be posted to Twitter and mention @stone2cbus and @stonebrewingco. All entries need to be posted before 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. It should go without mentioning, but you need to be 21 or older to enter.

The 10 videos that get the most retweets and favorites will be entered into a random drawing for a free trip for two to visit Stone’s headquarters, eat at its famous restaurant, and who knows, maybe even shake Koch’s hand and beg him to bring his big beers to Columbus. Two trips will be awarded.

“We will go out there and show Steve Wagner and Greg why Columbus is where Stone needs to be,” Tanner said.

Koch has central Ohio ties. He grew up in Pataskala and graduated from Watkins Memorial High School. He co-founded Stone in 1996, and the brewer has grown to the 10th-largest craft brewer in the U.S.

Stone announced this month that Columbus is one of three finalists for the new brewery, along with Norfolk and Richmond, Va. Stone plans to announce the winner in the next four to six weeks, said Stone spokeswoman Sabrina LoPiccolo.

The brewery, and later a restaurant, would mean hundreds of jobs for Columbus.

The leading potential spots for the brewery are owned by developer Mark Wagenbrenner. He said parcels near the intersection of E. 5th and Cleveland avenues, along with a site in Grandview Heights, have been proposed.

Stone2Cbus isn’t the only grass-roots effort trying to woo Stone. Norfolk and Richmond have their own versions.

Both cities have held events, boasted about their attributes, and posted a lot of photos of cold Stone beer being enjoyed by someone just off camera. Norfolk is hosting a street party and rally on Friday and serving only Stone’s brews.

People in Norfolk have even called out the quality of Columbus’ water, and Richmond’s effort claimed their water is even better than Norfolk’s.

Well, at least Ohio’s capital wasn’t the seat of the Confederate government.